Village Green tasks you with winning the annual village green of the year contest. If that hasn’t hooked you in already then carry on reading! To win the game you will manage a hand of green cards using them to score as many award cards as you can. You will play your green cards to a three by three grid, while playing award cards on one end of each row and column, scoring only for the three green cards in that row or column. Green cards generally can’t be played on top off, while award cards can be, allowing a shift in tactics mid game. Green cards come in one of three flower types and one of three colours, and when played can only be played next to empty spaces or cards with the same colour and/or flower. You will build your strategy out by aiming to grab a few early award cards and working towards these. Of course that may mean playing it safe for a reasonable amount of points or risking it for a biscuit and more points. Village Green has excellent artwork and the theme is unusually but works well in a sort of semi humorous style. The changes for solo mode make for a tough puzzle while multiplayer enables ‘hate drafting’ opportunities - that is messing up someone else’s plans by deliberately taking cards they want. For a small box game there is a surprising amount of punch and thinking involved, while maintaining a 30 minute playtime. The village green theme may also appeal to wider family members as you convince them to put scrabble away and battle your for a more prestigious honour!